Kiawah Island Half Marathon

Kiawah Island, South Carolina

Saturday, December 14, 2019



I race walked the Kiawah Island Half Marathon on Saturday, December 14, 2019 on Kiawah Island.  After a deluge of rain on Friday and Friday Night which was supposed to last until 9 AM Saturday, the rain stopped at 7 AM.  That was fortunate as the race began at 8 AM.  The event saw temperatures around 60 degrees with mostly cloudy skies until 12 noon then mostly sunny skies for the rest of the event.  The winds were about 10 mph.  The course was flat on paved roads that were heavily lined with mature trees for the most part.  There were also sections of paved bike paths and a short section of packed sand which was near the Atlantic Ocean.  For the most part the roads were closed to traffic and many police officers were stationed throughout to keep the 1130 finishers in the full marathon and 2886 finishers in the half marathon safe.  Water/Gatorade stations were located at distances that varied from 1.5 to 3 miles apart and had plenty of efficient enthusiastic friendly volunteers taking care of the needs of the participants.  Since there is not much available extra parking on the island, only residents and people staying in the resorts were able to park with permits on the island.  The rest of the participants had to park off the island in a large field about 4 miles from the island and be bussed to the event and back.  Unfortunately, because of all the rain the field was a sloppy mess.  Also, because everyone was expected to arrive before 6 AM, the field was extremely dark.  The busses dropped everyone off about four tenths of a mile from the start.  The event was very well organized and fun to do.  Actually, this was the second time I have done this event as 14 years ago in 2005 I did the marathon.

Packet Pick-up

Charlotte Corriher

Sid Busch

Charlotte Corriher

Rob Klein

Chester Kalb

Santa Claus